Orgdot: A Fashion and Social Enterprise in South Korea

Orgdot is a South Korean social enterprise specializing in the fashion business. A limited liability company established in March 2009, it was certified as a Seoul-style social enterprise in October 2010. At the end of 2011, Orgdot had 18 employees working in its head office and at the Seoul-based factory. Orgdot’s primary business objective is to improve the environment and the level of labor contentment by promoting ethical fashion. In terms of labor, Orgdot enhances the job satisfaction of sewing industry laborers by providing sustainable, decent jobs for designers and production experts through the direct operation of its factory. By establishing a network between emerging designers and sewing factories, Orgdot has re-invigorated the sewing industry and helped creative, emerging designers establish their own businesses. This practice ensures reliable incomes for the designers and the factories, enhancing the job satisfaction of both the sewing factory laborers and designers. In addition, Orgdot plans to reduce environmental pollution by using eco-friendly materials and increasing the public’s awareness of the importance of eco-friendliness. Through these activities, Orgdot aims to ultimately promote an ethical fashion lifestyle. Orgdot’s business is largely divided into 3 divisions: B2B, B2C and the Platform divisions. The B2B division, whose purpose is to supply eco-friendly and ethically produced uniforms, supplies goods to enterprises through planning, design and production. Its primary products are T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, jackets, bags, and cheering towels. It produces and supplies uniforms for players in both private and governmental Korean organizations. The B2B business enables customers to contribute to social benefit by purchasing eco-friendly and ethically manufactured goods. Their business clients can improve their corporate images by highlighting their interests in social responsibility. Hence, the B2B business is a substantial revenue source for Orgdot. The B2C division develops apparel products, promotes and manufactures them in ethical and eco-friendly ways, and sells them to customers. It has developed and currently produces eco-friendly bags (8 types in 2 styles) and USB flash drives with hardwood shells (2 types). The tote bag labeled “Once I was a plastic bottle” is made from recycled plastic bottles. These bags have vivid colors and are reversible, and 1,500 of them have been sold. In 2010, the B2C division of Orgdot ex panded by 67% in comparison to 2009. Although the trade volume of the B2C division is less than that of the B2B division, its primary objective is to enhance customers’ awareness of the importance of ethical consumption through the development and sale of products with competitive designs. In particular, the Orgdot online shop connected to Orgdot’s blog provides a range of information on ethical and eco-friendly consumption, enabling more consumers to purchase ethically produced goods. The Platform division focuses on local communities. Its primary objective is to create a healthy fashion ecosystem by supporting young designers’ label-launching activities. Orgdot is conducting a Regional Innovative Specialization project supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy in partnership with Hansung University, the Seoul Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the Specialized Sewing Manufacturers’ Group (SSMG). This project’s objective is to construct a production and distribution platform for designing and sewing, provide sample rooms that are easily accessible by designers, encourage companies to purchase eco-friendly raw and subsidiary materials, and help them produce goods in small quantities. It also plans to supply regular work for sewing factories and to open online and offline stores, supplying customers with goods at reasonable distribution charges. Moreover, it plans to adopt techniques such as “crowd sourcing”, which enables customers to choose designs for products that they want to produce, promoting the stockless production of goods. Due to the rapid increase in sales over the past two years, Orgdot plans to expand its factory and recruit more employees. These new jobs will offer five-day work weeks and will provide basic national insurance coverage. Moreover, by developing more products and materials, and through continuous expansion of the B2B and B2C divisions, Orgdot is determined to maintain the current level of increasing sales. Orgdot aims to produce at least 80% of its goods through ethical (i.e., fair labor or eco-friendly) processes in accordance with the guidelines for ethical products and to develop various fabrics. This will minimize its limitations in producing ethical/eco-friendly products and will offer Orgdot an advantage over its competitors. To establish a platform for producing ethical goods, Orgdot is recruiting emerging designers for the Regional Innovative Specialization (RIS) project, which is supported by the Korean government and is being run as a consortium by Orgdot. This project is an incubator for emerging designers that allows them to display their creative skills, and it attempts to create a network that links emerging designers with local garment factories. Moreover, it aims to establish a system that enables the production of samples and goods in small quantities. Considering the relatively low public awareness in South Korea of the social and environmental issues in apparel manufacturing, the efforts of social enterprises such as Orgdot in the fashion industry are encouraging. An enterprise in South Korea that makes a positive social impact, or at least demonstrates an increased awareness of social issues, is important in light of the Korean fashion industry’s significant position in the global economy. The Asian Big Five countries, which include Korea, served as a base for apparel manufacturing until the 1990s. These countries are now recognized as examples of successful industrial upgrading that characterizes them as focused on product development and design. The Korean fashion industry has also been considered a model for many developing countries seeking to upgrade their industry. The increased awareness and emphasis on social issues in the Korean fashion industry may have an impact beyond national boundaries and may transmit changes to other developing countries.